Day care owner gets 30 months in prison for killing child with Benadryl

Carol Cardillo, of Fairfield, awaits her sentence on a charge of second-degree manslaughter against her at the Fairfield County Courthouse in downtown Bridgeport, Conn., on Thursday Jan. 25, 2018. Adam Seagull, of Shelton, died March 22, 2016 while the in care of Cardillo, who ran an unlicensed home daycare at her home on Edgewood Road in Fairfield.

SOURCE: Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media

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Day care owner gets 30 months in prison for killing child with Benadryl

The tears flowed freely as Carol Cardillo, the owner of a Fairfield day care, was sentenced to 30 months in prison for killing a 4-month-old Shelton boy with an overdose of Benadryl.

Even the usually stalwart Judge Robert Devlin trembled with emotion Thursday as he lamented: “Adam never had a birthday party, never put on a Halloween costume, never got a visit from Santa Claus.”

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Speaking out for the first time, Cardillo never admitted she had killed the toddler, but rather told the judge and the infant’s family she was sorry for their loss.

“I am very sad this happened to a beautiful little boy, but this has also caused great havoc in my family,” she said.

This did nothing to appease the boy’s parents, Matthew and Michelle Seagull, although the couple said later on the steps of the Fairfield County Courthouse they believed justice was served.

“She has presented herself as a victim of this ordeal when the real victim was our son Adam,” Matthew Seagull told the judge. “She is an evil person … Adam was only in her day care for 11 days. She has sentenced us to a life without Adam.”

His wife then held up a photograph of their smiling son.

“This evil woman has made a mockery out of our misery and loss,” Michelle Seagall said, crying. “I was assured by her he would be cared for and safe. Adam, you made your mommy so proud."

Cardillo initially lied to police, denying she gave the boy Benadryl, an over-the-counter medication doctors say should never be given to young children, Senior Assistant Attorney Colleen Zingaro told the judge.

The autopsy revealed that the baby had 41,000 nanograms per milliliter of Benadryl in his system; 5,000 nanograms per milliliter and above is a reportable limit.

Zingaro said Cardillo repeatedly denied giving the baby Benadryl and said she did not have any in her home. However, records investigators obtained from CVS pharmacy showed that between Jan. 1, 2013 and May 24, 2016, Cardillo purchased 90 bottles of Benadryl, the last one purchased a week before the baby died.

“The 90 bottles of Benadryl that were purchased show a pattern,” Zingaro told the judge. “She was administering it to many children, almost three gallons of Benadryl. It is a poison that caused the death, not just something people do when they become impatient with children.”

But Cardillo’s lawyer, Eugene Riccio, argued that his client was using the Benadryl for a skin condition she had.

“I’ve stood next to evil and this is not an evil woman,” Riccio argued. “I’m sure no one believes Carol Cardillo committed an intentional act.”

Cardillo, 54, who operated the unlicensed daycare out of her Edgewood Road home for 11 years, pleaded no contest to second-degree manslaughter for the March 22, 2016, death of Adam Seagull. She had faced up to five years in prison.

“On one hand you have Mrs. Cardillo, who has a lot of good in her life — but the other hand is Adam, young and vulnerable,” Judge Devlin said in weighing his sentence.

“This was not an intentional crime, it was a reckless crime and this death was 100 percent preventable,” the judge continued.

He then sentenced her to 10 years, suspended after she serves 30 months, followed by five years’ probation.

“A condition of the probation is that she not work in a child care capacity,” the judge added.